Iceberg the size of London breaks from Antarctica Brunt Ice Shelf
AN ICEBERG nearly the size of London has broken off Antarctica close to the UK’S Halley Research Station.
The 470 sq mile iceberg’s break from the Brunt Ice Shelf was confirmed by surface instruments yesterday.
It will now be monitored remotely because of the risk it could pose in future to shipping.
“Although the breaking off of large parts of Antarctic ice shelves is an entirely normal part of how they work, large calving events such as the one detected at the Brunt Ice Shelf on Friday remain quite rare and exciting,” Prof Adrian Luckman of Swansea University told the BBC.
Nobody is currently in the research station, which has been operating in a reduced role since 2017 because of the growing possibility of just such an incident. The research base, which is run by the British Antarctic Survey, was reportedly just 12 miles from the rupture line of the calving.
Three long rifts had been actively developing on the Brunt Ice Shelf over the last five years, Prof Luckman said, with researchers expecting “something spectacular was going to happen.” The calving is not believed to be linked to climate change but is instead part of the natural processes of the ice shelf.
In 2017 an even larger iceberg, A-68, broke away from the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, which has been impacted by climate change. That iceberg, which initially measured 2,200 sq miles, threatened to ground itself off South Georgia late last year in what could have been a disaster for wildlife.
In February 2017, the modules of the Halley Research Station were towed 14 miles inland because the emergence of a large crack had left it at risk of drifting out to sea on an iceberg. However, the a separate large fissure 11 miles from its new location had already prompted the British Antarctic Survey to mothball the base for the winter, a practice it has continued in subsequent years.
The current base is actually the sixth Halley Research Station, which officially opened in 2013. Halley I operated from 1956 to 1968.
Prof Dame Jane Francis, director of British Antarctic Survey, said: “Our teams at BAS have been prepared for the calving of an iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf for years.
“Over the coming weeks or months, the iceberg may move away; or it could run aground and remain close to Brunt Ice Shelf. Our network of GPS instruments will give us early warning if the calving of this iceberg causes changes in the ice around our station.”
Simon Garrod, director of operations at British Antarctic Survey, added: “This is a dynamic situation. Four years ago we moved Halley Research Station inland to ensure that it would not be carried away when an iceberg eventually formed. That was a wise decision.
“Our job now is to keep a close eye on the situation and assess any potential impact of the present calving on the remaining ice shelf.”